Page 90 of Wallflower
A familiar voice stops me dead in my tracks.
“And Chord? Well, it won’t be long until he’s washed up right alongside you. Replaced with someone better and hotter than he ever was.”
Fuck. That’sEmma.
But it’s the reply that makes my heart jump into my throat.
“Why are you behaving like this?” Violet demands on the other side of the wall. “Youleft Chord.Youcheated onhim. Why are you going out of your way to say these horrible things about him? Are you not over him? Are you jealous?”
The impulse to storm in and shut this down is overpowering, but I make myself wait. I’ve never heard Violet speak with such confidence, and something like pride makes me take a deep, long breath.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Emma snaps, “and you’ve got no idea who that man really is. He’s cold and closed off and incapable of real connection. And he certainly doesn’tloveyou.” She cuts off with a cruel laugh. “Oh, myGod. You think he loves you? That’s pathetic. Chord Davenport doesn’t love anyone but himself. He doesn’t know how.”
“You don’t know him at all,” Violet replies, emotion making her voice high. “And if you believe that Chord doesn’t know how to love, it means you never even bothered to try. That man is the most loving person I know. He’s kind and thoughtful. He’s affectionate and sweet. He’s a provider and a protector, and if people took the time to look past the fact that he’s beautiful and rich and the best damn player the NHL haseverseen, they’d know that his independence is because of his strength of character and that he’s withdrawn because he’s misunderstood. He deserves more than you ever gave him, andthat’swhy he’s not with you now. It’s got nothing to do with Spencer Cook, and everything to do with your cruel, selfish heart!”
I blink and swallow the lump in my throat, then enter the little room in three long strides. Violet and Emma see me at the same time, their heads whipping around, but I ignore my ex and rush to Violet, cupping her face in my hands and kissing her hard.
I press my forehead to hers. “I love you,” I whisper. “I love you so fucking much.”
Her cheeks bloom, her chestnut eyes shine with tears, and I grin. “Let’s get out of here.”
thirty-four
Violet
Chord practically drags mefrom the room, his long legs speeding down the corridor and out to the foyer. I work hard to keep up, hiking my skirt up so I don’t trip on the hem, and all but running in my pumps. He pulls his phone from his pocket without losing speed, calls our driver, and when he arranges to meet him at a side entrance, Chord changes direction without pausing, leading me down another corridor and around a corner.
My heart flies, not from the pace he’s setting but from the thrill of this moment and the words he just said.
I love you.
When we reach the exit at the side of the building and Chord throws open the door, the limo is waiting for us. Chord helps me into the car first, then slides in after me.
His mouth is on mine before the driver closes the door.
Our tongues collide as I tear at his jacket, dragging it off his shoulders while he dips a hand into the corset of my dress and squeezes my breast. Our mouths work furiously, slipping and tugging, lips sliding against each other as Chord cradles myhead, fingertips pushing into my curls and pulling them wilder about my face. I yank at his bow tie and then fumble at the buttons on his shirt as he blindly reaches for the control to raise the privacy screen, but as it slides into place, Chord pulls away, eyes feverish and panting heavily.
“I want you to know that I plan on making you come at least six different ways tonight, but the first time I make love to you isn’t going to be in the back of a limo.”
He slides a hand under my skirts and up my inner thigh, then presses a firm thumb to my clit, rubbing me in tiny circles that make me moan and spread my knees. “But the ranch feels far away right now.” He swirls his tongue around the hollow in my throat because he knows how much I love it. “I’d take us to a hotel, but you’re too good for that. I can’t do it, so we’re just going to have to wait.”
“No hotel,” I agree between whimpers. I drop my head back and bite back a groan as the pressure on my clit brings me closer to orgasm. “But I can’t wait. Let’s— Let’s— Let’s— Oh, my God! Chord!”
I release a wordless cry as my pussy pulses around nothing, and euphoria flares in every nerve of my body. I moan with release and fall across the long seat, shuddering as my climax ebbs from my system.
“Let’s… what, baby?” Chord strokes my hair as he stretches over me and covers one shoulder with open-mouthed kisses. “What do you want to do?”
“Let’s go to my place,” I mumble, unable to force my eyes open. “It’s not far.”
“Do you have a key?”
I nod slowly and only once. “I keep an emergency spare tucked into my phone case.”
Chord snatches up the intercom handset and asks, “Remind me again—what’s the address?”
Once the driver has our destination, Chord pulls me upright before dropping to his knees on the floor of the limo. I whimper at the image of him undoing his cuffs, then again at the panty-melting picture of him rolling his sleeves up over his tanned, muscled forearms.
I bite my lip and dig my fingers into the leather seat as he gathers the fine, soft layers of my dress in his hands and shoves them up over my hips in a pool of silk that takes up most of the long limousine seat. Chord looks up at me with his wild hair and wilder eyes, his gaze sweeping over me like he can’t quite believe we’re here, like this.
